Health Procurement Liverpool celebrates two year anniversary

Health Procurement Liverpool (HPL)celebrated its second birthday in May and to mark the occasion the team took some time to reflect on the progress we have made over the past few years, building HPL into what it is today – a vibrant service supporting the incredible work if some of Liverpool’s specialist NHS Trusts. We also spent some time thinking about our future aims and objectives and how we continue to drive the service forwards. HPL is a shared procurement service across four specialist organisations in Liverpool (Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, Liverpool Heart & Chest Hospital and The Walton Centre).  The shared service covers both Strategic Procurement (Commercial, Tendering and Contracting) and Operational Procurement, (Materials Management, Receipt & Distribution and Procure 2 Pay).

It’s fantastic to hear about the team’s personal experiences and achievements from the last few years, and it was great to hear that throughout our journey together, they have been there to help and support each other. We recently held a meeting where we looked back on the achievements and milestones from the last two years, and it was truly wonderful to hear examples of the great teamwork they displayed over this time. (I’ve included attached some pictures from the day). 

One particular milestone to mention is the introduction of a collaborative Product Evaluation Group (PEG). The group meets quarterly and consists of clinical and business leads across HPL member trusts.  The aim of the group is to review current products and appraise suitable alternatives, to look at where we can enhance quality and achieve value for money.

The sessions are interactive, and we work together to look at where we can standardise and rationalise our product base, review alternative supplier products and listen to feedback from our clinical colleagues on what products they would like to see at future sessions.

Our new Procurement strategy is nearly finished, with the team spending time earlier this year engaging with, and listening to, what our clinical and business colleagues want to see from HPL and where we could support. The engagement and feedback so far has proven invaluable in drawing up our plan for the future. We are excited to share this new strategy with colleagues in the coming months. The strategy will provide a focus for the team over the coming three years, strengthening our Trust-aligned aims and ambitions, to ensure that all our procurement activities support clinicians in the delivery of excellent patient care.

Teamwork really does make the dream work, and I am extremely proud to work with such a wonderful and talented group of procurement professionals, who are passionate about what they do and the services we provide to support each of our organisations. I’m proud of the hard work already put in by all members of the team and I’m excited to continue that fantastic work and collaboration. 

If you want to hear more about what’s going on across our Procurement service, follow our twitter page @HealthProcLpool.